Drive for Britain! UK scrambles for truckers amid supply woe
ABC News
Britain doesn't have enough truck drivers
LONDON -- In Britain, this is the season of shortages: Milkshakes were off the menu for weeks at McDonald's, chicken has been in short supply at KFC, some gas stations have run out of fuel and there are gaps on supermarket shelves.
The problems have several causes, but one stands out: There just aren’t enough truck drivers. The U.K. is short tens of thousands of drivers, as factors including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic converge to create a supply-chain crunch.
With the industry raising the specter of Christmas shortages of turkeys and toys, the government is scrambling to lure more people into truck driving, long viewed as an underpaid and underappreciated job.
“Driving isn’t seen as a 21st-century sexy vocation,” said Laurence Bolton, managing director of the National Driving Centre, a family-owned school for truck drivers in the London suburb of Croydon.
